Refrigerator ice door construction



Oct. 30, 1934. 1 GlBSON 1,978,708

REFRIGERATOR ICE DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed'Deo. 9. 19504 x Q [N VENTOR'afkffm/z B Y j/bM/w o@ VM A TTORNEY lio Patented Oct. 30, 1934vPxrlatNT OFFICE.

UNITED STATES REFRIGERATORICE DOOR CONSTRUCTION Charles J. Gibson,Greenville, Mich., assignor to Gibson Refrigerator Company, Greenville,

' This invention relates to refrigerators and more particularly to doorconstructions `forthe same.

.An object of this invention is aj refrigerator having an icecompartment and a plurality'of food compartments separated therefrom andfrom "one another by suitable partitions the refrigerator having aplurality of doors, one of which coversthe ice compartment and one ofthe foodcompartments, the others of which cover one or more of theremaining food compartments, as desired. These doors generally are ofthe usual refrigerator type, that is to say, theyare heavily insulatedand are of comparatively expensive construction.

In such refrigerators, where there is provided a single door which,covers both the ice compartment and a food compartment, opening thedoor to expose the food compartment will also T$- expose the block ofice, thus permitting a substantial thermal loss from the ice compartmentand a substantial decrease in the efficiency of the refrigerator.Accordingly, there has been provided an inner 25- door which isremovable, when access to the ice compartment is desired, and whichnormally conceals the latter even when the outer door which covers theice compartment and an adjacent food compartment is open. The inner 130'door may be of comparatively inexpensive construction, that is to say,it may be made of a sheet of metal provided with suitable means forretaining it in place. a A further object,itherefore, is a novel form of4`35inner door for refrigerators of the class described above, the doorbeing provided with a snap or spring fastening means by which it may bemaintained in its place in front of the ice compartment.

Still other objects will readily occur to those skilled in the art uponreference to the following description and the accompanying drawing inwhich Fig. 1 shows a refrigerator having two outer doors, one of whichconceals the ice compartment and a food compartment and the other one ofwhich covers a plurality of food compartments..

. Fig. 2 is a front view of the ice compartment and a portion of theadjacent food compartments, the ice compartment being covered by theinner door forming part of the invention.

Fig. 3 is a side sectional view as if on the line of Flg. 2.

" Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view of a modification. i

Byreference to the drawing, it will be seen that the refrigerator l0 isprovided with a pair of hinged doors 11 and 12 having the usual latches13 and 14. Behind the doors 11 is an ice compartment 16 and a foodcompartment 18, separated from each other by a shelf `2O and a portion22 of the refrigerator body. Behind the door 12 are a plurality of foodcompartments 26, separated from each other by the shelves vor racks 28.The lining for the ice compartment 16 may be extended upwardly andoffset asat 32 to provide a groove 34 between itself and an auxil iarystrip 36 as disclosed, the bottom of the groove being in communicationwith the interior of the compartment 16 thru the minute aperturesBl inthe bottom of the groove. Disposed within the groove 34 is a sheet metaldoor 38 whose upper edge 39 overlaps the lower edge 42 of the upperportion of the lining, and adjacent the upper edge 39 of the inner door36, a more or less conventional snap fastener 44 is provided, therebeing a handle 46 of any suitable construction by which the upper edgeof the door may be drawn back so as to permit the door being removedfrom the groove and from the ice compartment.

In Fig. 4 the refrigerator is provided with one or more friction catches50 secured to the upper edge of the ice compartment by a screw 52, thefriction catch 50 having a shoulder at 54 behind which the door 36 maybe disposed, the catch cooperating with the upper edge of the door in anobvious manner.

It Will be seen that the inner door prevents thermal loss from the blockof ice when the door 1l is opened, while at the ysame time, an economyin the construction of the refrigerator is effected by virtue of theydoor 11 covering both the ice compartment and a food compartment.

Further, the moisture which condenses on tha inner side of the door 38will collect on the Shelf 20, draining thru the pipe 58, and will notcollect on the inner surface of the door 11.

It will be observed therefore, that there has been provided aconstruction which prevents great thermal losses in refrigerators whichhave a door covering both the ice compartment and an adjacent foodcompartment, the inner door? being of comparatively inexpensiveconstruction as contrasted with the comparatively expensive'construction of the outer door.

Further, it is contemplated to provide slides on the inside wall and thepartition of the refrigerator so that the inner ice door is slidable, upand down, in front of and below the ice compartment, the constructionbeing such that the ice door is not readily removable from therefrigerator.

Further, it is also contemplated to hingedly` mount the ice door infront of the ice compartment, as desired, the hinge line being at thetop or bottom (horizontal) or at the side (vertical).

Now, having described the invention and the preferred embodimentthereof, it is to be understood that the said invention is to belimited, not to the specific details herein set forth, but only by thescope of the claims which follow.

I claim:

1. In a refrigerator, an ice compartment and a food compartmentseparated from each other by a partition, a single outer door coveringboth of said compartments, and an inner door covering only the icecompartment, the inner door being made of comparatively inexpensivesheet metal, rmly although removably mounted in the ice compartment, theupper edge of the inner door being provided with a catch whereby it maybe securely held in place in the ice cornp'artment, and the lower edgeof the inner door being supported in a grooved portion of the wall ofthe ice compartment. y

2. In a refrigerator, an ice compartment and a food compartmentseparated from each other by a partition, a single outer door coveringboth of said compartments, and an inner door covering only the icecompartment, the inner door being made of comparatively inexpensivesheet metal, rmly although removably mounted in the' ice compartment,the upper edge of the inner door being provided with a catch whereby itmay be securely held in place in the ice compartment, and the lower edgeof the inner door being supported in a grooved portion of thel Wall ofthe ice compartment, the groove communicating with the interior of theice compartment.

3. In a refrigerator, a plurality of compartments separated from oneanother by partitions and shelves, one of the compartments being an icecompartment and others being food compartments, an outer door whichcovers both the ice compartment and a food compartment, an inner door ofcomparatively inexpensive sheet metal, rmly but removably mounted in theice compartment, the upper edge of the inner door being provided with acatch whereby it may be securely held in place in the ice compartment,and the lower edge of the inner door being supported in a groovedportion of the wall of the ice compartment.

4. In a refrigerator,- a plurality of compartments separated from oneanother by partitions and shelves, one of the compartments being an icecompartment and others being food compartments, an outer door whichcovers both 100 the ice compartment and one of the food compartments, aninner door of comparatively inexpensive sheet metal construction firmlyalw though removably, mounted in the ice compartment, the upper edge ofthe inner door being 105 provided with a catch whereby it may besecurely held in place in the ice compartment, and the lower edge of theinner door being supported in a grooved portion of the Wall of the icecompartment, the groove communicating 110 with the interior of the icecompartment.

CHARLES J. GIBSON.

